Integrated Assessment of Climate Change Impacts to Groundwater, Stormwater, and Wastewater Infrastructure at Coastal Military Facilities
Image credit: DODAbstract
Current approaches for evaluating the impacts of water level rise and changing (intensifying) precipitation patterns on flooding evaluate these phenomena separately, neglecting the ways in which groundwater can link the two hazards and create compound flooding risks. Even when surface flooding does not occur, generally wetter subsurface conditions may have an overlooked impact on aging wastewater collection systems and the ability of the system to treat wastewater as expected. Saltwater intrusion, rising groundwater levels, and changes in recharge patterns may also impact drinking water sources and may increase groundwater contamination from legacy landfills and other pollutant sources. Without a framework for holistically evaluating these threats, DoD may underestimate the risk to coastal facilities and may be unprepared for the actual costs of climate change for water infrastructure.
In this new ESTCP project, we will demonstrate the application of an integrated suite of models to holistically analyze the impacts of climate change and extreme weather (specifically, rising sea and/or groundwater levels, increasing groundwater salinity, and changing precipitation patterns) on groundwater, stormwater, and wastewater infrastructure at US military installations. This modeling toolbox will use site-specific predictions of changing rainfall patterns and rising water levels as inputs to an integrated model (MODFLOW and SWMM) that simulates groundwater flow and salt transport, stormwater and sanitary sewer flow, and stormwater best management practices. The toolbox will also contain coding packages to evaluate impacts to groundwater flooding and stormwater management, wastewater conveyance and treatment, and (where applicable) drinking water quality and groundwater contamination based on outputs from integrated model simulations. In addition to providing a detailed assessment of Dover Air Force Base (demonstration site), we will develop guidance including standard operating procedures to facilitate the adoption of the modeling toolbox at other Department of Defense settings. This modeling toolbox will allow users to identify, evaluate, and prioritize investment in interventions to sustain water infrastructure systems and thus improve water security while reducing overall cost to the Department of Defense.
Carolyn B. Voter
Assistant Professor
Omowumi Erukubami
PhD Candidate
